This article appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald on Friday, 19 October 2018, story by Carolyn Cummins.
Sydney is to get another shiny new tower with new plans lodged by the City Tattersalls Club, one of the oldest operating in the country, for a $270 million, 49-storey mixed-use development atop its Pitt Street premises.
It comes after a series of issues with financing and developers and some concerns about heritage designs by the City of Sydney council halted proceedings, but it is now back on track.
Following the false starts, the Board of Directors appointed the new chief executive Marcelo Veloz, who has worked with architects to prepare an indicative design scheme to illustrate the potential to create a complete re-development of the 123-year-old club.
The plans including the construction of a four-star boutique hotel with about 100 rooms and a residential tower comprising 246 apartments.
Mr Veloz said the illustrative design has been submitted to demonstrate how the envelope will deliver a ” high-quality development outcome”.
It will be developed by ICD Property as its first venture into Sydney after developing successful projects in Melbourne including residential high-rise Eq Tower, ongoing land subdivision community Gen Fyansford in Geelong, as well as 65 Federal Street, a mixed-use tower in Auckland, designed by Woods Bagot.
Mr Veloz, who has also overseen the upgrade of the venerable Lower Bar at 194-204 Pitt Street, Sydney, said the new submission represented a major milestone for the historic club which, along with ICD Property, had to go back to the drawing board last year after an earlier development application was declined.
The proposed internal reconstruction of the Club and the new hotel and residential tower for this site will be spectacular and a fitting innovative addition to the heart of our city.
– Mercelo Veloz
”The process of rethinking the proposal, while carrying out extensive consultation with stakeholder groups on key aspects, including traffic impact, heritage conservation elements and planning matters over the past year, had helped all parties develop a more considered submission,” Mr Veloz said.
”The proposed internal reconstruction of the Club and the new hotel and residential tower for this site will be spectacular and a fitting innovative addition to the heart of our city.”
Mr Veloz added that it will be a state-of-the-art multi-purpose facility for inner city residents and a new base from which the ”Club can continue to serve the city and its many thousands of members well into a second century”.
ICD Property’s deputy managing director Matthew Khoo said the activation along the ground floor with modern restaurants and bars will bring people together to socialise, while the hotel offering complements Sydney’s booming tourism market.
If approved, the tower will kick-start a series of major developments in this area of Sydney city, with plans underway for Scentre Group and Cbus Property to redevelop the nearby David Jones Market Street store into an upmarket retail complex and also apartments.
The challenge for the developers, owners and architects is to ensure the towers do not throw a shadow over Hyde Park.
”We’ve also greatly considered how to best integrate the building into its neighbouring surroundings to ensure the highest quality outcome not only for the site but the entire surrounding area,” Mr Khoo said.